How Country Names Change the Answer You Expect9 min read

Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Divide Between Continents

Moscow and St. Petersburg are Russia’s two most internationally recognized cities. Moscow, the capital, is one of Europe’s largest cities and serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of the country. St. Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great in the early 18th century, is known for its imperial architecture and major institutions including the Hermitage Museum. The Ural Mountains run roughly north to south across Russia and are traditionally used as the boundary between European Russia to the west and Asian Russia to the east. This makes Russia one of the few countries that genuinely straddles two continents — a distinction that affects how geographers classify parts of the country depending on the framework they use. Whether Russia counts as a European or Asian country is a question that has no clean answer.

Romania — More Geographic Variety Than Its Size Suggests

Romania sits in southeastern Europe, sharing borders with Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Its capital, Bucharest, had a population of more than 1.7 million according to the 2021 census, making it one of the larger capital cities in the region. Romania’s terrain is unusually varied for a mid-sized country: the Carpathian Mountains arc through the center, the Transylvanian plateau sits in the northwest, and fertile plains spread across the south and east. The Danube River forms much of Romania’s southern border before spreading into a broad delta on the Black Sea coast — one of Europe’s largest and most biodiverse wetland systems. This geographic variety gives Romania more landscape diversity than its size might suggest to someone who has never looked closely at its map.